So I took a Black and white photography class last year at my college and I loved it, so I decided to get more into it. And seeing as how I know how to use photoshop, I believe digital photography would be best since I can incorporate those photoshop skills into my photos.

I will be taking more photography classes in the fall and will be in need of a digital camera so Im hoping to get some advice on what route to go in terms of picking a camera to begin with. I will of course be doing lots of still shots, but would really like to focus on action shots. I have a brother that skates and I would love to take some shots of him and his friends skating. I would like to keep my budget under $1000.00, would like to include a external flash into that budget but not at the cost of the camera.

Truth be told, I expect you will be asked to pick up a manual film camera for classes, but it's been the better part of ten years since I took classes. Regardless there have been many digital photographers who suddenly chyme up saying they need an SLR for their classes as reasently as last September so.

First of all... WELCOME!!!! This is a great place to browse as you will learn tons just by reading through all the threads (that's where I have learned most of what I know). To start off... as far as cameras are conserned (and believe me you'll hear this a lot here) what you'll need most in a digital camera is the feel of it. Honestly almost all digital camera do the exact same and produce the exact same picture quality. Yes you'll have some that will have a better white balance or slower ISO or faster shutter speed than the rest out there but for the most part all of them will take great photos, and that is taking into consideration of any type of photography. Lens are the same way. You take the best that Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and say Sony lense and you'll have a hard time telling a difference of the quality of the pictures. I have both a pentax and canon and I personally like my canon better just because of the way it fits into my hand, but right now... I have a better lens for my pentax so I shoot with my pentax until I can get a better lens for my canon. What I can tell you though is if you are starting out with a limited buget is look into either a canon 30d 8.2MP w/lens ($800-$1000) or nikon D80 10.2MP w/lens ($800-1000), or a pentax k10d 10.2MP w/lens ($800-1000). These are prices I have found on ebay. First thing I would do though is go into a store and feel each one of these cameras. Play with them a little to see what you like about each and make your choice off of that. If you are shooting sports, one recomdation... find a camera that has a high fps (frames per second) and high continuous frames (how shots you can make before it has to buffer the last shots). This will allow you to take a burst of say five shots of your subject in a short amount of time, increasing (possibly) the chance of your subject doing something cool in those shots... that's my two cents...

First, Hi and welcome to the forum. Second, the big blue chicken, er, a, Macaw above is correct (Boblybill) in his advise. But as Battou mentioned, check with your school and see if you will need a 35mm film camera. If you still want to go digital, then find the digital system that feels right in your hands and I would suggest getting a used (cheap) film camera in the same brand/mount so your lenses will be interchangeable. Nikon F mount lenses have had the same mount since 1959, but the meter coupling changed in the mid 70's. All lenses made since then will mount, but may not meter manual focus lenses depending on the digital body you decide on. Sony will mount old Minolta lenses the are AF, but they and Canon changed mounts between MF and AF bodies, so you will need a later AF film body to be compatible. Pentax DSLR are like Nikon in that they will mount any manual focus bayonet mount lenses. In the 1960's they used 49mm thread mounts and I believe even these lenses will work with an adapter. Not sure if the MF lenses will meter on the newer AF Pentax though. IMHO, Nikon and Canon are the 2 biggest names out there, so the available lenses and accessories are more plentiful. But the all make decent entry level cameras.

That is part of why I left my post as short as it was. If you alredy have a 35mm SLR at your disposal and are adding a dSLR to to the useable list of gear. What camera you have could be useful in deciding what to get. If you don't alredy have one, find out if you are giong to need one. If you do, that budget is gonna hurt later.

Edit: Also Im really interest in a Fisheye lense, do both cannon and nikon offer a lense for their entry level cameras?

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Yes they do, but they are usually very expensive. What you can do if you just want to play around before investing is buy a screw on fisheye that will thread right on the end of your notmal lens. Now the quaility wont be good at all but definetly a nice thing to have when shooting sports like skating,bmx, snowboaring, blah blah blah

The 30D is a very nice camera. I especially like that it has a magnesium chassis.

About that fisheye...if you are going for just the distorted look that is easily accomplished in photoshop for much much cheaper. They seem cool when you look through skate magazines, etc, but in my opinion a regular super-wide angle lens is a lot more useful and a better value.